FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — Libraries across Maine are collecting donations to help rebuild the library destroyed when a runaway train exploded in Canada earlier this summer.

Farmington Public Library Director Melanie Coombs launched the effort because the Maine community is the sister city of Lac-Megantic (lak may-gahn-TEEK’), Quebec. The July 6 explosion and fire killed 47 people.

Coombs tells the Sun Journal (http://bit.ly/19UbQDA ) the Canadian community’s library lost its entire collection of 60,000 books, except for the few that customers had borrowed. It also lost irreplaceable records and photos documenting the town’s history.

Coombs reached out to libraries across Maine, including at schools and colleges, and they agreed to put donation cans at their circulation desks. The cans, which say “Libraries are the heart of the community,” will accept donations through mid-September.